a cool fall morning...

I started this post a week ago. It was originally to fill you in on our week of Thanksgiving. I was unable to finish it and so, I have abandoned the idea of sharing our Thanksgiving week in detail. I figure at this point, the week of Thanksgiving is old news.

So, instead I'm just going to focus on one of my favorite memories from that week. We took a day to do a little exploring here in our small town of Belton, Texas. We really like this town and enjoy driving around the downtown area looking at the historical homes and dreaming of one day owning one.

On this day, we skipped the houses and went looking for Nolan Creek, which runs through downtown Belton. We had heard about the Creek but, didn't know where it was.

After short drive (very short, it was only like two or three miles from our house) we found the creek and stopped at a nice little spot for a closer look.

The white things scattered everywhere are duck feathers

It was a cool, cloudy fall day and the rains had just cleared out, so the creek was abandoned except for a few fishermen and some grumpy old ducks. We sat by the creek enjoying the cool fall air, which is rare here in Central Texas. We usually go straight from the heat of summer to the cold of winter and don't really get to enjoy a fall. But, this year we have and it's been very nice. The trees, bushes and other foliage have turned colors; beautiful oranges, yellows and reds! Fall has certainly brought beauty with it this year!

I secretly snapped a picture of the fisherman. The picture is from a distance, so they're only in the background. I hope they don't mind but, I thought it was a "Kodak moment" with them on the edge of the creek, fishing on a cool fall morning.

I just wish I could have gotten up the nerve to go ask them if I could take their picture closer up.

and here are the grumpy old ducks.

I think this one was warning Madi ~ "hey kid, you better back up!"

I think somehow the ducks knew what would end up happening, knew that the combination of a child and a dog was not good because....

Madi gets this idea She's looking down the creek at the ducks and starts forming this idea of hers

She turns to us and asks if she can "run down there" - in other words, chase after the ducks. Jack tells her yes and she takes off laughing Bella, who has been sniffing the ground the entire time, takes off along side Madi. At first she's just trotting along, sniffing as she goes

still trotting, still sniffing... here's where Bella figures out what's going on... she sees what's up ahead and takes off... leaving Madi behind...

The ducks figure out what's going on....

and clumsily flop their way into the creek. Madi looks back laughing. Bella's looking after the ducks - she doesn't like water, so she wasn't going near the edge of the creek. So, the duck live to see another day!

Meanwhile, Jack and I watched, enjoying the moment and the sound of Madison's contagious laughter. We had a good time and created a few funny memories. Everyone seemed to be happy on the ride home...everyone except Bella...

she was pouting....she really wanted one of those grumpy old ducks!

...with hearts overfilled with love, we say...Thank You, Lord.

"For flowers that bloom about our feet; For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet; For song of bird, and hum of bee; For all things fair we hear or see, Father in heaven, we thank Thee!" ~Ralph Waldo Emerson We hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends and take the time to thank God for his many blessings. Jack, Madi and I are so very thankful for each other. Togetherness is happiness and everyday we are blessed with lots of both! Jack and I are thankful for Madison. We are thankful for her sense of humor, her loving and caring nature, and her positive spirit! We are most thankful to have her love surround us daily. She is a blessing! We are thankful that we have not lost hope in having a baby. We are thankful that we have trust in the Lord and know that our day is coming. We are also tremendously thankful for our parents! They are a constant blessing through their gifts of love, encouragement, faith, time, guidance and so much more! We thank God for you, Mom & Dad, today and every day! We are thankful for our sisters, brothers, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law and all of our nieces and nephews! What a beautiful family we are building!

We are so thankful for our friends. Even though most of you are far away, we are thankful for the time you take to call or email to show how much you care about us and that you are thinking of us. We should show you how much we are thankful by calling each of YOU more often! We are thankful for our health and the health of our loved ones. We are thankful for our country and the freedom that we know.

We are thankful for generations of heroes who have sacrificed so much to give us this land.

We are thankful for Gods many blessings, large and small!

Father, we are thankful for the greatest of blessings, without which all the rest would be meaningless, Your grace, Your mercy and Your love. We are truly humbled and astonished by Your gift and with hearts overfilled with love, we say...Thank You, Lord.

~ "Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow." ~ Edward Sandford Martin

Eye of the Tiger

Today Madison participated in her very first swim meet! Up by 7am, she rushed through breakfast, jumped into her swim gear and then hurried out the door to get to warm-ups by 8am. "Warm-ups" consisted of diving into a freezing pool - on a Saturday - at 8am! That alone takes determination and willpower!

~ Madi getting her Swim Belton swim cap on.

"Mommy, Stop"...as she giggles

The swim meet was held at the Temple High School Swim Center in Temple, Texas. This is a picture of their facility. Because I have so many pictures to attach to this post, I attached each picture at medium size instead of large but, I hope you are still able to see the place. Jack and I thought it was nice.

~Madi, about thirty minutes before her first event. She was very nervous and full of anticipation. But, that nervousness and anticipation didn't hold her back! That took a lot of courage.

~Here's Madi walking up to her platform for her first event which was the girls' 50m freestyle.

~Madi on the starting block

~Madi finished in 2nd out of 8 girls in her heat! How awesome is that!?

She was still nervous after the first event was over, as you can see in this picture. But, when we (Jack and I, Mom and Dad Johnston and my sister, Virginia) cheered and told her what place she made, the nervousness was gone and the passion to compete kicked in! She was ready to go again!

~ Madi getting ready for her 2nd event - the girls' 50m backstroke.

~Madi came in 3rd in her heat in the backstroke. Again, pretty awesome!

~Looking to see her place and time.

~Madi just after her second event.

~Madi getting dried off and dressed at the end of the competition

Dressed and ready for an early lunch!

We went to Cracker Barrel for a late breakfast for Jack and I and an early lunch for Madi. Look at my two favs, they even dress alike!

We are so proud of Madison and how well she handled her first competition! As we expected, the seed has been planted and she is already looking forward to her next competition. SO, expect many more swim stories, photos and bragging from a proud mommy & daddy in the future!

Celebrating a Big Day!

So, that’s it…I just went from being a bit of a procrastinator to a flat out crappy husband. Just like that. I had been planning to write something about the celebration of our 3rd Anniversary and her birthday all week but, just hadn’t gotten the chance yet (yeah, because all that research I’ve been conducting on whether Javelinas are pigs or not was so much more important). So, Olivia goes and steals my thunder and reveals me for the sorry sack of poop I am. This should be a time to celebrate her much more than just to talk about our anniversary. Although her words were very kind and made me sound like so much better of a husband and father than I ever am, I cannot let it go with only that message!

Olivia turned thirty-three on Monday, November 9th. Or, if she’s feeling bummed about it, she turned 29 for the 5th time…Yay!!! Seriously though, she’s starting to take these thirties pretty hard, lately (CRAZY since she’s yet to look like 26, much less 29…again). During our now famous jog on Monday, as we rounded the turn on our last 10th of a mile, Olivia said “To hell with you, gravity!” I don’t know how long she and I will be able to keep winning that fight but, let me tell you, she’s kicking gravity’s butt in her jogging pants these days. Saucy!!!

If you are reading this belated b-day message for my lovely wife, you have probably received phone calls, emails or some message on your own birthday from Olivia. That’s just a part of who she is. She remembers peoples birthdays…EVERYBODY’S! Now, if you’re reading this and thinking, "Wait a minute, Olivia didn't call me on my birthday, that guy's full of crap!" I’m going to reveal her secret strategy to remember everyone’s birthday shortly, and all will be made clear.

Olivia has a new calendar every year. Yeah, I know…you’re supposed to get a new calendar every year but, if you’re like me you only use a real calendar about once a month to see if you’re supposed to have any extra days off that week. Olivia actually uses her calendar. She takes her old calendar at the start of each year, and adds all your important days to the new one. She does this every year and then, she actually looks at the calendar each day to see who’s day it is. Seems pretty simple so far (although I can’t say I’ve ever written a single word on a real calendar in my life much less, used one to remember which special person’s birthday or anniversary or whatever it was). Here’s where it gets a little tougher. She actually calls or at least emails the people whose big day it is!!! I can’t even remember who about 85% of you people are and she’s emailing and calling like 3 of you a week!!! So, if you haven’t gotten a call or email, your day probably didn’t make the original calendar like 7 years ago and although she does add people all the time, let her know and she’ll sign you right up on the list with everyone else. See, Olivia cares. She loves her friends and family and enjoys reaching out to them to let them know they are important to her. Wow! Now you know that when I say that she makes me want to be a better person, I’m not just saying it. She’s really is a pretty cool chick. And don’t even get me started on her study habits!

What is especially ironic about this birthday stuff, and pretty frustrating for me at times is that, she never wants anyone to make any big deal out of her birthday. I’m not saying she should expect a parade but hey, a little cake isn’t too much to ask! I would also like to thank all of you for letting her know that you were thinking about her on her birthday because I know that it meant a lot to her and the phone was ringing from the time I left for work in the morning until we started to get ready for bed that night. It was nice to see her get to talk to so many people who are so special to her on her birthday. It probably didn’t seem like a very big deal to you but, you are all pretty great in my book…whatever your names are! And, if you hadn’t already figured it out, I’m so thoughtful that I convinced Olivia to marry me on her birthday so that I’d only have to remember one day every year that’s not already written on every calendar and web page in the world. November 9th. That’s the big one for me! That’s the day that my Livvy-Fay was born, and that’s the day that I got to marry my Sunshine! Pretty good day if you ask me and I can honestly say thanks to her, since that day, there have been so many more good days than bad, it’s not even close. We really do try to do everything together and the way I see it, that’s what a marriage should be. I don’t know about making her laugh every day but, I’ll tell you that any good day for me definitely includes putting a smile on her face and that the major sign of a bad day is one where she cries (unless it’s a good cry... which happens sometimes). God has truly blessed me with a great partner and she is a wonderful wife in every way I could ever hope for! Okay that’s more than enough of a look into how I feel about my special girl.

Since I know you've been waiting impatiently all this time, here's your answer:

Javelinas or, Peccaries (also known as javelinas, by the Portuguese name javali and Spanish jabalí or pecarí) are medium-sized mammals of the family Tayassuidae. Peccaries are members of the artiodactyl suborder Suina, as are swine (Suidae) and possibly hippopotami.[1] They are found in the southwestern area of North America and throughout Central and South America. Peccaries usually measure between 90 to 130 centimetres (3.0 to 4.3 ft), and a full-grown adult usually weighs between about 20 to 40 kilograms (44 to 88 lb). People often confuse peccaries, which are found in the Americas, with pigs which originated in Afro-Eurasia, especially since some domestic pigs brought by European settlers have escaped over the years and now run wild as razorback hogs in many parts of the United States. Thanks again, Wikipedia! And with that, I’m off to spend countless hours conducting similarly critical research…

I guess you'll do....

Jack and I were drawn to each other almost the very moment we met. He was handsome and funny. I was shy and quiet. We had two very different personalities but, the magnetic pull between us was unavoidable.

He had (and still has) the prettiest blue eyes I had ever seen and I found myself in love way sooner then I wanted to admit to myself at the time. I think this was true for him too.

Though we were nearing our thirties when we started dating, we felt like couple of kids! We were so carefree in love!

He had a way of making me laugh, even on the worst of days. And just like most newly in love couples, we talked for hours and hours. Jack not only excepted that I had a 6 year old daughter but, seemed to be delighted by the fact. He respected that I was a mother first and everything else came second. He grew to love Madi as she grew to love him and he treated her as if she were his own. I just knew he would be the best step-dad! The love between Jack and I felt magical, childlike and exciting but, mostly, it felt right. It made sense. So, on November 9, 2006, we gave our lives to one another, for better or for worse.

This past Monday, November 9, 2009, Jack and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary!

Jack still makes me feel like a kid at times; giddy in love. He makes me laugh, often, everyday! He has been the best step-dad, just as I knew he would. Really, he is Madi's Dad and I am so thankful for his presence in her life. We are now into our thirties and share a busy life that doesn't allow us to be as carefree but, it is a happy life. A life that is full. A life that will lead to many rewards, of this I am sure. We do nearly everything together. We wake up together, we cook together, we clean together, we do yard work (though he does most) together, we pray together and we exercise together. We are a team and that's what I love best about our life. On the morning of our anniversary, we went for a jog together. While we were jogging, I was thinking of how there was no better way to start off our anniversary! To me, it was a perfect symbol of our unity, our marriage and our devotion to one another. I should have taken that moment to look over at him and tell him how thankful I was that he is my partner in life and how happy I am to have him on my team! So, to my husband, I say... I guess you'll do!

Happy 3rd Anniversary, Jack!!

I love you!

from black to bronze....

Congratulations Madison!!

As you may know, Madison is a member of the Swim Belton swim team here in Belton, TX. But, what you may not know is that last week while at practice, Madison's Swim Coach, Coach Windy, promoted Madison up a level!

Madi has been a member of Swim Belton for about nine months now and has really surprised us at how quickly she has progressed through the levels. We are beyond proud!!

When she began at Swim Belton, she was at the Pre-comp level. Pre-comp is an intro/beginners level. She was there for about 6 months.

Then, she moved up to the Black Team which is an advanced beginners level. She was there for only three.

As of today, she is on the Bronze Team! The Bronze Team is the lowest level of the competitive teams which focuses on training development. There are two levels above Bronze which are, Silver and Gold.

We have no doubts that Madi will be on the Silver team before the school year is out. She works hard (going to practice 5 days a week) at being a great swimmer and in the process she is having so much fun! She is also spending time with like-minded-kids who are pretty awesome!

Looks like Madison's first meet as a Bronze Team member will be November 20th - 21st, in Temple, Texas. So, look for lots of pictures in the near future of our competitive swimmer!!

We are so proud of YOU, Madison!

How do we dive? - Deeper

How do we swim? - Faster

How do we work? - Harder

DEEPER! FASTER! HARDER!

~author unknown

~Being your best is not so much about overcoming the barriers other people place in front of you as it is about overcoming the barriers we place in front of ourselves. It has nothing to do with how many times you win or lose. It has no relation to where you finish in a race or whether you break world records. But it does have everything to do with having the vision to dream, the courage to recover from adversity and the determination never to be shifted from your goals ~ Kieren Perkins

creatures, critters and other Halloween treats..

Halloween was defiantly a treat for us this year! Madison and I made cupcakes, Notre Dame won their game, we spent time with Mom & Dad Johnston, Jason spent the night and Bella had her first outing in 8 days.

As I mentioned, Madi and I made Halloween inspired cupcakes. I got the recipe and decorating ideas from the Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade magazine. They turned out pretty good and were pretty fun to make. We baked them at our house but, because we ran out of time, we decorated them at Cami's (momma Johnstons) house. The decorating was a little time consuming so, after making a few pretty ones for pictures, I let Madison and Jason do whatever they wanted with them. Here are a few pictures...

Monster Face, Mummy & Caterpillar Cupcakes

Can you tell which ones the kids made?? a few pretty & a few....um, creative cupcakes.

A Big~Nosed~Monster~Face~Cupcake. The nose was a yummy white-chocolate covered espresso bean!

Roach Cupcake...The "Roach" is a big Chocolate Covered Almond.

Skeleton Face

Madi & I, proud of our creations

In the kitchen with my little Rock Star.

Madison and Jason handed out the candy so that the adults could watch the Notre Dame game. Jason was awesome at handing out candy and often started up conversations with the parents or kids that came to the door. He greeted everyone by enthusiastically asking, "How are y'all doing tonight?" and would call out "Happy Halloween" when they left. We had to of had the friendliest door greater/candy giver in town! Madison on the other hand was quiet and a little shy. She got scared easily and totally freaked out when a big guy dressed in the SAW costume came to the front door...guess she thought everyone coming to get candy would be dressed as princesses or ninjas.

Jason and Madison, Rockin' & Grovin' on a break from candy duty

Max wore a pumpkin around his neck and Bella wore the same hated and feared Lady Bug Costume from last year.

Not the best picture of Max and Bella; Bella doesn't have her Antenna on and you can't see Max's pumpkin. But, you can see that Bella was uncomfortable and that Max was doting on his treat, Bella. Even the new edition, Sammy, got in on the action! He was dressed like a Postman and was the cutest four-legged-creature around... Cute, cute, cute!! The best treat of all however, was that Bella had a great day!! She seemed totally over her strange & unexplained illness. We were so happy to see her playing and goofing around again!! She seems to get better with each passing day and we want to thank you for your thoughts and prayer for our goofy~smush~face~Bella! So, lots of treats this Halloween for the Johnston Family. We hope your Halloween was full of treats too!